Until we came along, mountain athletes traditionally “did their sport” to train, and that was sufficient to excel. Those days are changing. Media exposure is attracting more and more people to these sports, including higher level team sport athletes who bring both more natural athletic talent, and a history of training in the gym for their sport. Competition is increasing, and the days of using the early weeks the ski hill opens to “get in shape” are no longer enough. Our athletes, through intense dryland training ahead of time, arrive at the mountain fit and ready to start their technical practice. Unfit athletes fall behind fast.

We say “gym based training” but don’t think all you’ll be doing is lifting barbells and jumping rope. These training sessions and training plans get “sport specific” to the fitness demands of the activity. Skiers train eccentric leg strength and leg lactate tolerance. Climbers are on system boards, campus boards and climbing walls training grip and finger strength, work capacity and stamina. Kayakers build upper body pushing and pulling strength in the gym, and sport-specific work capacity through hard paddling intervals on the river or lake. Mixed alpine climbers practice figure 4’s and long tech board intervals using tools, as well as step up intervals for the approach.

This programming is sport specific and directly transferable to the mountain.